Improvement in the manufacture of stopples for bottles



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LEVERETT BISHOP, OF PARIS, YORK.

Lam Patent No. 65,533, dated June 11, 1867; I

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN;

Be itknown that I, LEVERETT BISHOP, of the town of Paris, county ofOneida, and. State of New York, have discovered a valuable and highlyuseful substance out of which to manufacture andfabricate all kinds ofStopples for Bottles containing fluids, jars for canning fruits,&c.,,and for all purposes for which the native or natural cork is nowused. as aforesaid, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of preparing the substance and forming it into suitableartistic shapes for the uses aforesaid.

My invention consists in converting the wood of any or all the varietiesof willow, cedar, pine, bass-wood, or any species of wood that may befound commercially or artistically the most economical, into a substanceknown and described in books on chemistry and general science asjg ipe,or an approximation thereto, just as different woods used are found torequire, and'of porous woody fibre without chemical change, ashereinafter more fully explained. V a

The wood intended for the fabrication of stopplcs as herein specified isfirst wrought into blanks of the desired length of-the stopple. 'Theseblanks are cylinders corresponding'in diameter to the base of the coneor .stopple to be formed. Thus wrought, they are immersed in a bath ofdiluted sulphuric acid, (oil of vitriol of commerce,) one part acid tothree of water, more or less, and should remain in this bath three orfour days, or until the acid has penetrated to nearly the centre of theblank, whichmay be known by inspection. The blanks should then beremoved from the bath and suffered to dry, the decomposition andbreaking up of the cellulose or stiffening principle going on themeanwhile and becoming more and more perfect throughout the entireblank. The blanks may be treated with nitric acid, as above, (or otherchemical agents or acids,) thereby avoiding the dark color producedbysulphuric acid. By adding nitric acid to the sulphuric acid bath aftertwo or three days immersion, the blanks are restored to the light orangecolor produced by the use of nitric acid alone.

After the blanks are removed from the chemical bath they will improvefor a long time, and when nitric acid alone is used do not generallyrequire an alkaline bath before washing out the remains of nitric acidand its compound in running water. When blanks are prepared by sulphuricacid alone, care should be taken to wash out all traces of the remainingacids and sulphates from them before compression, now to be described.For the purpose of'shapiiigthe blanks into suitable artistic forms forstopples, and securing by m'eans of compression the quality ofrapid'expansion on coming in contact with liquids and of somewhatcork-like elasticity,

these blanks are forcedinto moulds of iron or other metallic substances,or of wood, (when in a. proper stage of dampness,) and allowed to remainin such moulds or forms until they become set or fixed. Blanks formed ofvery light, porous wood admit of sufiicient compression Withoutdecomposition of the cell structure, as before explained, formingthereby stopples of less cost and commercial value, but in many cases ofequal temporary utility as the former. Blanks of this sortshould, beforecompression, be made to absorb a small quantity of gum arabic solution,or some other inert and similar substance, whereby they retain theirconical or cork form until coming in contact with liquids. Theprotruding ends of the blanks after being forced into the moulds shouldbe pared off, and to the-larger end of the stopple a little linseed oilapplied.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is- The right to make and use in the fabrication of stopples for bottlesa substance called lignine, or an approximation thereto; alsolight,'porous woody fibre, (as both herein specificd',) by means ofcompression into moulds or forms herein mentioned and described.

I claim compression as above only for the specific purpose of securingto such stopples the quality ofrapid expansion by moisture and somewhatof cork like elasticity, and not for giving them certain definiteartistic shapes.

' LEVERETT BISHOP.

Witnesses:

B. D. Rrcnnans, WILLIAM KNIGHT.

